Life Ain't Always Beautiful
by CorbinBleuandZacEfronLuvers
Summary: This is the account of corbinbleuis4evasexc and ZacEfronandJohnCenaluvr together.Troy's twin sister was kidnapped at 10.What happens when 5 yrs later, she shows up at EH with a new identity?Will the gang be able to help her, or even reconize her?TG Chadoc
1. Journey to the Past

As stated in the summary, we're really corbinbleuis4evasexc and ZacEfronandJohnCenaluvr together, so we're not really new to story writing, we're just new to writing a story together. Well, we hope you all enjoy!

Oh, also, this is rated T, but it has minor M in certain parts.

Disclaimer: HSM isn't ours, but we're working on it.

* * *

_"Troy, wait for me!" a young ten-year old girl with shoulder length sandy-brown hair called after her twin brother. _

_They were racing home from school like they always did, and as usual, she was trailing a good length behind him. _

"Well if you weren't so slow you would be able to keep up!" Troy called back, continuing to run down the street towards their home.

"Hello? If you haven't noticed, I AM WEARING A SKIRT!" she yelled.

"It's not my fault you were stupid enough to wear a skirt now, is it?" he retorted.

"Tr-oy!" she whined and stopped.

"C'mon, Claire, I was only kidding!" he called back without turning around for a second.

Troy arrived at the house first, as usual. When Claire never came, he started to panic. He peeked over the fence, but the street was vacant.

"Claire, where are you?" Troy called out, in fear that something happened to his sister, "Clarrissa!"

When no one responded, Troy started to really worry, "C'mon, Clarrissa, this isn't funny anymore!"

Still, no one answered his calls.

"Claire, please! I'm sorry, ok?" he tried again, not wanting to think that something bad could have happened to her, "C'mon, sis! Don't scare me like this!"

Much to Troy's dismay, his sister still did not answer.

"Ok, Claire, you win! You got me! Now please come out!" Troy tried again, but still did not receive a reply, "Clarrissa!"

_

* * *

_

"Troy, honey, wake up! It's time for school!" Mrs. Bolton called from the doorway of her son's room.

Troy groaned and looked at his alarm clock, which read six thirty, "It should be against the law to wake up at this hour."

Mrs. Bolton just laughed, "Hey, if I had to go through it, then so should you."

"Yea, but at least you weren't mobbed by a bunch of people every morning either." he replied as he walked over to his closet and grabbed whatever outfit he saw first.

"It can't be that bad. Your father went through it too, and he turned out just fine." she pointed out.

"Ok, mom, whatever you say." Troy said, for his version and his mom's version of fine were completely opposite.

Troy quickly got ready for school and ate breakfast. He walked outside and stood on the street corner and waited for the bus.

Troy's mind wondered back onto the dream he had the night before. It was not just a dream; it was a distant memory. No matter how hard he tried to shake that memory and move on, he found that to be easier said and done.

Troy's twin sister, Clarrissa, disappeared that very afternoon, never to be seen or heard from ever again. He had always blamed himself for her disappearance, for if he had been walking alongside her, she would still be with him. His parents tried to persuade him that it was not his fault that she disappeared and that if he was with her, that he could have been taken as well.

After several months of searching, the police pronounced her dead and gave up their search. Everyone, including his family had given up, every one except for Troy. He knew that she was out there somewhere, he just knew it, and one day, he was going to find her. Troy was never one to quit and give up, especially when someone he loved and cared about was in trouble.

Troy's life ever since his sister's disappearance started to go downhill. He hated life and was never happy. He started lashing out at his friends for no reason, and he rarely spoke to his parents. For years, Troy had wished that he were instead of his sister, but that was before he met her, Gabriella Montez.

Gabriella was different from any girl Troy had ever known. She was the first person who had seen past his school status and treated him like a normal person instead of some sort of celebrity. Gabriella was also the first person who had ever been able to make him forget the memories left from his sister's disappearance. On top of that, she was the first girl he had ever fallen for. She was the first girl he had ever really cared about since his sister's disappearance. He did not know what he would do if he ever lost both of them. Troy refused to lose Gabriella as easily as he lost Clarrissa, even if that meant sacrificing his own life.

Troy snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the school bus coming to a steady halt. He boarded the bus and sat down ready for another boring day of school.

* * *

_"Troy, wait for me!" a young ten-year old girl with shoulder length sandy-brown hair called after her twin brother. _

_They were racing home from school as they always did, and as usual, she was trailing a good length behind him._

_"Well if you weren't so slow you would be able to keep up!" Troy called back as he continuing to run down the street towards their home._

_"Hello? If you haven't noticed, I AM WEARING A SKIRT!" she yelled. _

"It's not my fault you were stupid enough to wear a skirt now, is it?" he retorted.

"Tr-oy!" she cried, noticing the car moving slowly beside her.

"_Come here, kid," the woman in the passenger seat of the car told her. Clarrissa thought the woman looked like her mother, but she shook that thought off._

"_Why?" she questioned, "My mom always says not to talk to strangers."_

"_Because if you don't do as we say, we'll be forced to use drastic measures," the man in the driver's seat told her._

_Clarrissa wanted to scream, but then she noticed the gun sitting in between the two and grew fearful. She hesitantly nodded and got in the back without another word, not knowing if she would ever see her family again._

_

* * *

_

Melanie Ramsay stared blankly at the basement ceiling, silently counting the ceiling cracks. Her and her family had just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico from Wichita, Kansas, and already everything was the same as before they had moved. Her room was still the basement, she still did not have a mattress to sleep on, and so she had to sleep on the floor every night, which over the years has given her a bad back. Her parents still treat her like crap, but her sister has seemingly gotten worse since the move.

Melanie did not understand why her parents treated her older sister, Hailey differently than the way they treated her. Hailey was treated like royalty, where as she was treated like scum and did not belong in this family. She had never felt like she belonged in this family, and that somewhere out there, something better was awaiting her, she just had to find it.

Although Melanie did not remember much about her childhood, she was still haunted every night by the memory of a little boy who looked identical to her, but she did not know who he was. Every time she was in trouble, she could see his smiling face, telling her that everything would be ok.

"Come on, twerp, time for school." Hailey called out from the stairs, "And this time, try not to embarrass me."

"You do enough of that without my help." Melanie mumbled under her breath as she stood up.

"What was that?" she asked sharply.

"Um, nothing!" Melanie quickly covered up as she started to get ready for her first day of school.


	2. Chapter 2

**To our beautiful reviewers:**

**LuvinLucas28: **Thanks for reading and being our first reviewer. This chapter is dedicated to you.  
**Keaira: **Thanks. Here's the next chapter.  
**xXJust.Like.ThatXx: **Thanks for reading it. You asked for the update, so here it is. Sorry for the wait.  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"…and you do not come near me at all. For any reason what so ever, are we clear?" Hailey told her younger sister.

Melanie yawned, "Crystal".

"Good, and whatever you do, don't embarrass us", Hailey said in a low, harsh voice, referring to herself and her best friend, Brooke Davids.

"Yes, sister dearest", Melanie replied. _Whatever you say, your highness._

"Your sister is such a dweeb", Brooke said, not really meaning it.

The truth was Brooke liked Melanie, although Hailey didn't know it. And Melanie liked her. They would secretly hang out together when Hailey was out, doing her usual routine. Going out to parties, getting drunk and hanging out with guys, often hooking up with who ever she could sink her claws into.

Hailey pulled up to East High, with Melanie almost jumping out as the car stopped. She walked ahead of Hailey and Brooke, as instructed, not knowing where to go. She reached the front doors to the school, seeing a hallway filled with people, left, right and center. She slowly entered the big building, the colors red and white decorating every wall.  
-----------------------------------

Troy was sitting in his usual spot in homeroom, in the back with his girlfriend, Gabriella and behind his best friend Chad.

"Hey Troy!" a squeaky voice said.

Troy and Gabriella looked up to see an overly made up Sharpay walking towards them.

Troy moaned, "Hey Sharpay", he said in a less than thrilled voice.

Sharpay sat down on Troy's desk, pushing his hair out of his face. Gabriella did not look too happy.

"Erm, Troy I just remembered, Kelsi needs us in the theatre", she said getting up from her desk.

"O-Oh, yeah" Troy answered, glad Gabriella had thought of a way to get them out of the messy situation that neither of them wanted to be in, "We better go before she gets mad"

Chad looked up from what he was doing, "Uh wait for me, I need to talk to Kels too".

They all quickly got up, nearly running out of the classroom.

"Phew, that was close", Troy said, "Good thinking Gabs."

Gabriella smiled.

"No worries, now let's go see Kels so Sharpay doesn't suspect that we were lying," she told Troy and Chad.

Chad laughed.

They walked into the auditorium, where Kelsi was going through the notes for the spring musical.

"Hey Kels", Troy and Gabriella greeted the quiet red head.

"Hey, Troy, hey, Gabi", she said, "Hey to you too, Chad".

"Hey", he answered.

"So, why are you guys here?" Kelsi asked them.

"To escape Sharpay." Troy answered.

Kelsi laughed, "She's still after you?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." he replied.

"We should probably get back before Ms. Darbus yells at us for being late." Gabriella said.

"Well that's nothing new." Chad said.

"Dude, you're always late." Troy pointed out.

"Yeah and I've never been late, and I don't intend to start now." Gabriella said.  
------------------------------

Mrs. Darbus was droning on about everything and nothing, leaving everyone bored, when Taylor walked in late with a girl trailing not too far behind her.

"Nice of you to join us Ms. McKessie", Ms Darbus said, nostrils flaring.

"I'm sorry Ms. Darbus, but I was with Mr. Matsui", she said quietly, "We have a new student"

Hearing the words, 'new student', Troy quickly looked up from what he was doing. The girl looked quite familiar, but he did not know why.

Mrs. Darbus looked from Taylor to the tall blue-eyed brunette standing next her.

"Go and take a seat Ms. McKessie", she said not taking her eyes off the new girl, "And you are?"

"I'm Melanie", the girl replied, "Melanie Ramsay".

Melanie felt someone staring at her, and when she turned to look, she was met by the intense gaze of a boy who looked very familiar. That is when she realized that it was him. The boy from her dreams.

Troy just kept staring at the girl, thinking that the girl looked and sounded quite familiar. A lump rose up in his throat, as he stood up and ran out of the classroom. Everyone watched as he ran. Gabriella and Chad exchanged a quick glance as they both began to stand up.

"Chad, I'll go", Gabriella told him, and without waiting for an answer ran outside in search for her boyfriend.

---------------  
Gabriella had been running around for 5 minutes, unable to find Troy. She looked everywhere. She thought Troy would be in the gym, but he was not there so she went to the last place she could think of, and thought to herself, 'Of course' 

She ran to the cafeteria up the stairs and into their not so secret, secret spot, only to notice Troy sitting there with his head in his hands. She carefully approached him.

"Troy, what's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing", he said not looking at her.

"It doesn't look like nothing, you just," she said before he cut her off.

"Just what Gabriella?" he said in an angry voice, "Just leave me alone!"

Gabriella was shocked, tears forming in eyes. He had never talked to her like that before.

"Troy-", she whispered, "Please, what's wrong?"

"I said nothing, now just leave me alone", he screamed at her, rage in his eyes, "GO!"

Gabi said nothing. She started crying and ran out just as the bell for next period rung. Gabriella didn't walk to class, as it was free period so she went to her locker and slid down to the floor.

Chad was walking towards the gym, but that is when he heard sobbing. He looked over to the lockers to Gabriella crying. He quickly ran over to her, hating it when she cried.

"Gabi," he asked softly as Gabriella lifted her head to look at him, "What's wrong?"

Chad slid down next to Gabriella who just kept crying. He pulled her into a hug, with Gabriella sobbing uncontrollable into his chest. He didn't care that his shirt was getting tear stained, as long as Gabriella was ok.

"Shhh" he whispered into her hair, "Shh" Gabs, its ok, everything's going to be alright".

Gabi looked up at Chad and smiled.

"Thanks" she said softly, tears slowly cascading down her cheeks.

"Anytime", he replied, moving a strand of hair out of her face.

Chad stood up bringing Gabriella up with him.

"Where's Troy?" Chad asked.

"Where we usually hang out," she answered, walking towards the cafeteria, Chad following close behind.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that was chapter 2. That little Chadella moment was strictly out of friendship, so don't go thinking we're going to split up your favourite couple.


	3. Chapter 3

**AshleyEH- **Glad you're finding it interesting. They will be reunited with Claire very soon. Don't ask us when though because we don't actually have it all planned out. Thanks for reading and here's the next chapter.

**Swizzlet-Schiz- **Here's the update.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Gabriella had left, Troy ran down the hall to the gym, hoping to get his mind off of everything. He didn't mean to snap at her like that, being that she was only trying to help, but he couldn't tell her, not yet at least.  
--------------------------------------

"He's not here!" Chad said once they were on the roof. Sure enough, Troy was no longer there.

"Where could he be?" Gabriella asked worriedly.

"Maybe we should check the gym." Chad suggested, "If he's not there, coach might know where he is."

"Hopefully." Gabriella said as they started walking back down the stairs, "Chad, why did Troy freak out when he saw the new girl anyways?"

It took a while for Chad to respond. He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not, being that Troy was his best friend, and Troy would be mad if he told.

"I don't think it's really my place to tell you, so why don't you just wait and ask Troy?"

"I already tried that, remember?" she pointed out, "I'm his girlfriend, and he won't even tell me!"

"I'm sure he'll tell you someday." he assured her.

"Yea, someday pretty much says it all." she said and sighed, "What could it be so much that he can't even tell me?"

"Just don't worry about it. Troy's just being, well, Troy, he'll tell you when he's ready." Chad said as they entered the gym, only to find Troy shooting hoops, missing every one.

"Yo, dude, mind telling us what's going on?" Chad called out, causing Troy to stop and look at them.

"Nothing's wrong!" Troy denied and turned back around and shot again, only to miss.

"Troy, please! Why won't you just tell me?" Gabriella pleaded, "Chad knows, but he won't tell me, and you obviously know, but you won't tell me! What is it with you and the new girl?"

"Why do you think it has anything to do with the new girl?" he questioned, "I don't even know her!"

"Maybe because you started freaking out when you saw her. That's why!" Gabriella said, getting frustrated that he wouldn't tell her, "Why don't you just tell me? I mean, I am your girlfriend, so why don't you trust me enough to tell me when something's bothering you?"

Sadness overcame Troy's face as looked her straight in the eye, "I can't tell you because I might lose you too."

"Troy, what are you talking about?" she asked, growing more worried.

"Gabriella, can we please just drop the subject?" he asked, not wanting to dwell on the subject anymore than he had to, for it was starting to bring back the memories of him and his sister.

"No, Troy, we can't." she said determinedly, "I care too much about you to let deal with this on your own, and I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me."

"Then you'll be standing there awhile." he said, being equally stubborn, "Listen, it's for your own good that you don't know."

"Troy, why don't you just tell her the truth?" Chad said, surprising the couple who had forgotten he was there, "Because if you don't, I will, and I think it's better if she hears it from you."

Troy glared at him, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Gabriella, the truth is, Troy has a --" Chad started, but Troy cut him off.

"A migraine from all of your questions, so if you guys don't mind, I'd like to be left alone." Troy said, continuing to glare at Chad.

"Fine, but it's not over, Troy." Gabriella said as her and Chad started to walk away.

"I still say you should just tell her the truth, dude." Chad said.

"Chad, you had better not tell her either!" Troy warned.

"Who's gonna stop me if I do?"  
---------------------------

"So, Melanie, how do you like Albuquerque so far?" Taylor asked her as they walked out of homeroom.

Melanie thought for a moment, not sure how she should answer since she hadn't seen too much of Albuquerque yet, "Um, well, it's ok, I guess."

Melanie found herself staring at huge poster on the wall. There was one large picture of a boy, who she instantly remembered as the one in homeroom who had the freaky resemblance to the one in her dreams, and he was surrounded by several others, evidently, the basketball team.

Taylor stifled a laugh when she noticed where Melanie was staring, "Behold, the animals for we know as the Wildcat basketball team."

"He looks familiar" Melanie trailed off as another piece of her memory started to come back.

Flashback

"He shoots and he scores!" seven year old Clarrissa Bolton said excitedly as she watched her brother play basketball in their backyard. Normally, Clarrissa would've been playing too, but it's nearly impossible for her to do so with a broken arm.

"Wanna play?" Troy asked her, even though he knew she couldn't.

"I would, but thanks to you, I can't." she said.

"Hey, I didn't tell you to jump on top of me, did I?" he pointed out.

"Well, I didn't tell you to throw me on the floor, now did I?" she pointed out.

"Yea, but if you hadn't have jumped on top of me while I was playing video games in the first place, I wouldn't have thrown you on the floor."

"But I wouldn't have jumped on top of you if you hadn't have trashed my room."

"I wouldn't have trashed your room if you hadn't have stole my video games in the first place!"

"I only stole yours because mom won't let me have the fun ones! If she would buy me the ones where things blow up and stuff, then I wouldn't need to steal yours!"

"So then it's technically mom's fault your arm's broken! Told you it wasn't entirely my fault!"

"No, it's still your fault."  
----------------------------------

"Melanie, is something wrong?" Taylor asked, waving her hand over her face to get her to snap out of it.

"Oh, uh, nothing! Nothing at all!" she quickly denied, still trying to figure out why she was having dreams about some girl named Clarrissa's past. She was Melanie Ramsay, not Clarrissa Bolton, wasn't she?

"Taylor, I need to talk to you for a moment!"

Taylor was a bit surprised to see Gabriella practically running down the hall after them, "Uh, sure, what is it, Gabi?"

"It's about Troy! I don't know what to do! He refuses to tell me why he ran off earlier, and I'm scared that he never will!" Gabriella told her frantically.

For the first time, Gabriella got a good look at Melanie, and her eyes widened in shock, for her resemblance to Troy was remarkable.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Gabi. Troy's just being a typical guy, that's all." Taylor assured her, "I'm sure it's nothing too important."

Gabriella sighed, "I hope you're right."

"Um, by the way, Gabriella, this is Melanie Ramsay, and Melanie, this is my best friend, Gabriella Montez." Taylor introduced them, "Gabriella was our last new girl."

"It's nice to meet you." Gabriella said politely.

"Same." Melanie replied, "So, is he your boyfriend?"

"You mean Troy?" she asked and Melanie nodded, "Yea, he's my boyfriend."

"So, Melanie, you have English next, right?" Taylor asked her.

"Uh, yea." she answered.

"Gabriella has it next too, so I'm sure she'll show you where it's at, right, Gabi?"

"Yea, I'd love too!" she said, but then gulped as she remembered something very important, and that's that Troy had English next too.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Sorry we haven't updated since last year ut we've been ultra super dooper busy. This is just a filler chapter but we hope you enjoy it. Thank you to all our reviewers and for your patience

* * *

"I just need to go and get my stuff from my locker," Gabriella told Melanie  
as they walked towards a set of lockers.

Gabriella opened her locker and Melanie noticed all the photos, letters and  
notes on the door and walls of her locker. On the door was a small  
rectangular mirror in the center, with photo booth pictures surrounding it.  
Some were in color, some were in black and white, and some were even in  
sepia. Melanie got lost in thought and began to have a flash back.

_Flashback_

_"Oh, dad, look!" an excited 9 year old Claire exclaimed, "A photo booth. Oh please, can we take some photos? Please?"_

_'Not today, Claire __Bear," her father, Jack Bolton told her. "__We have to  
prepare for you're mother's birthday.__"_

_"But…" Claire tried again with no luck._

_"No buts, Claire," her father told her._

_"Tr-oy!" she whined. "Convince hiiiiiim. I want to go to the photo booth!"_

_Troy looked at his sister and after seeing the tears in her eyes, tried to  
convince his father._

_"Dad, how can you say no to her face?" he asked. "__And besides, we'll just  
slow you down. You'll be able to get everything out of the way without us  
bugging you.__ I promise that we will be quick. W__e'll meet you at the fountain  
ten__ minutes."_

_Jack looked from Claire, to Troy and back to Claire._

_"Fine. Why do you have to be so grown up?" he said giving in. "But make sure you keep your promise and meet me at the fountain in ten minutes and n__o later, otherwise I'm leaving __without you."_

_'YAAAAAAAAAAY!__" an overly excited Claire squealed, "Thank you, thank you,  
thank you, thank…."_

_"__Ok, Claire, let's go__"__, Troy said, grabbing his sister's hand and __dragging her towards the booth._

_Troy put a quarter into the machine and closed the grey-blue curtain behind  
him and sat next to his sister, both pulling big, cheesy grins._

_Click._

_Troy and Claire poked their tongues out._

_Click._

_Troy and Claire hugged._

_Click._

_Troy pushed Claire's face out of shot._

_Click._

_"Come on, Claire," Troy said. "We better go now"._

_Troy got up and led his sister out of the booth._

_"Thanks for convincing dad, Troy," Claire told Troy._

_End flashback  
_  
"Melanie?" Gabriella asked, "Hello, Melanie."

Gabriella decided that talking to her wouldn't work, so she did the only  
thing she knew would. She pulled her locker door back and then brought it  
forward, slamming it, startling Melanie.

"Goodness, Gabriella," Melanie said, finally coming back down to earth,  
"Sorry, I was day dreaming, I seem to keep doing that lately."

Gabriella let out a small giggle. "That's ok," she told her. "But we're sort of late for English. We better go."

Melanie nodded and followed Gabriella down the hallway to the English room.

"Montez, you're late," Mr. Atwood boomed, startling the whole class who  
currently had their heads stuck into their books. "And you must be Ms.  
Ramsay. What a great start to your first day. Detention at lunch time, the  
both of you."

Gabriella and Melanie nodded their heads and walked to empty seats situated  
right at the front of the classroom.

An hour and twenty minutes later the bell rang and the class filed out of the classroom, with Troy, Gabriella and Melanie trailing behind.

"I am so sorry I got you detention, Gabriella," Melanie told her. "I just  
got so caught up in… yeah, sorry."

"Don't sweat it," Gabriella replied. "Detention is with Mrs. Darbus.  
Painting sets for the up and coming musicals."

"It's actually fun," Troy said, finally speaking for the first time. "And  
she usually allows people to join in, even if they don't have detention."

"I see. Anyway, I have to go to the library, so I'll see you later", Melanie told her, walking away

"Troy, I'm…" Gabriella started before being cut off by Troy.

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about," he told her. "If anyone should be apologizing it's me. I treated you like crap. I should've just told you  
straight up what was bothering me."

Gabriella shook her head. "But I shouldn't have been pushing for you to tell me," she replied. "You'll tell me when you're ready. It wasn't fair."

Troy laughed. "Well then, I guess we both have something to apologize for."

Gabriella gigged before wrapping her arms around Troy's neck and giving him a soft kiss on the lips before starting to walk away. As Gabriella got further  
and further ahead, Troy ran to catch up to her and picked her up by the  
waist and twirled her around.

Gabriella squealed. "Tr-oy, put me down!"

Troy put her down as they walked down the corridor hand in hand, fingers  
intertwined, out of the big red doors and out to the oval where the rest of  
the gang were sitting on the beautiful, luscious green grass in the warm Alberquerque sun.


End file.
